Harvest 2025: The promise of renewal
After a 2024 vintage marked by persistent rain and climatic uncertainties, the dawn of 2025 dawned like a bright promise. Under radiant skies and a particularly sunny summer, the vines of our four Grands Crus Classés revealed exceptional potential.
This vintage is not just the vintage of a great wine: it's the vintage of a renewal, driven by the demands of every gesture, the mastery of time and a vision focused on excellence. From the first bunches picked at Pape Clément in August to the last manual botrytis sorting at Clos Haut-Peyraguey in October, each step was guided by a single driving force: to aim for excellence.
Patience and observation: when the vine speaks, we listen
Long before the first pruning shears, our teams survey the rows every day. They taste, observe and measure. The grape becomes a silent language to be listened to.
This attentive listening is the key to all future decisions: it determines the ideal harvest date, which is different for each terroir, each grape variety and each plot.
Château Pape Clément : Solar precision
The flagship of Maison Bernard Magrez, Château Pape Clément embodies the House's high standards and vision.
On 56 hectares of reds (52% Merlot, 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, 1.5% Petit Verdot, 1.5% Cabernet Franc, average age 15 years) and 5 hectares of whites (49% Semillon, 43% Sauvignon blanc, 8% Sauvignon gris, average age 22 years), 2025 was characterized by contrasting climatic conditions, marked by episodes of heat and drought. The vines, deeply rooted in their clay gravel terroir, showed remarkable resilience to reach remarkable phenolic maturity.
On August 20, an all-time record for earliness was set: the harvest of white grapes began in bright sunshine, revealing perfect ripeness: both aromatic brilliance and intense freshness. This early harvest marks the start of a sunny, controlled vintage.
"2025 reminded us that the vine is an astonishingly robust plant. Thanks to precise cultivation practices and the attention paid to each plot, it has overcome climatic excesses to offer us grapes full of promise."
- Mathieu VIGNEAU
Head of Culture Château Pape Clément
Château La Tour Carnet : The controlled radiance of a solar vintage
At Château La Tour Carnet, the 2025 harvest was a race against time. After a radiant summer, a more capricious start to September imposed daily vigilance on this exceptional terroir, combining limestone and Günzian gravel. Day after day, meticulous observation of the vines guided the teams to capture the precise moment when the berries reached their optimum aromatic ripeness. Our speed of execution and precision of choice enabled us to preserve all the freshness and brilliance of the fruit, resulting in a luminous vintage on a par with the finest solar years.
Château Fombrauge : The challenge of time
On the 60 hectares of this Saint-Émilion Grand Cru Classé (92% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc, average age 26 years), the clay-limestone terroir made a bold choice: wait. While many neighbors had already harvested, the teams waited until mid-September to take advantage of the last warm, dry rays. The harvest took place between September 15 and 29, quickly and precisely, to capture all the richness of the ripe grapes.
"With this vintage, the terroir of Château Fombrauge has demonstrated its remarkable resilience to the vagaries of climate change, illustrating one of the major challenges of tomorrow: preserving the authenticity of wines while embracing sustainable viticulture".
- Emmanuel MASSÉ
Head of Culture Château Fombrauge
Clos Haut-Peyraguey : Aux Sources de l'Or
Atop the hills overlooking the entrance to the village of Bommes, Clos Haut-Peyraguey enjoys a privileged geographical location, bathed in the morning mists of the Ciron and Garonne rivers. This exceptional microclimate favors the slow spread of Botrytis cinereathe famous "noble rot", which transforms the berries into concentrated pearls.
On this very exclusive Vineyard of just 6 hectares, each bunch is scrutinized with the utmost care: three successive sortings, between late September and early October, are carried out by a small team of 3 passionate winemakers, to retain only perfectly ripe fruit. The third selection brings balance and depth, sublimating the first selection already vinified by a skilful art of blending that aims for a sweetness of jewel-like precision.
"From the beginning of September, we noticed that our grapes were ripening well, thanks to the dry, sunny and early vintage.
Intense, fine, complex aromas were already present when the berries were tasted.
Humidity arrived at just the right moment, favoring the development of very pure Botrytis, resulting in highly concentrated grapes.
Sanitary conditions remained impeccable, enabling us to harvest all the grapes in optimal conditions, to achieve respectable yields for a Sauternes Premier Grand Cru Classé ".
- Anthony DEFIVES
Operations Manager Clos Haut-Peyraguey
The decision, the right moment
In every château, the decision-making process is a solemn moment. Between phenolic ripeness, sugar evolution, the sometimes capricious weather and the specific identity of each terroir, it's a choreography of science, instinct and experience. Each decision affects the quality of the entire vintage.
To guide these choices with precision, Maison Bernard Magrez has relied for several decades on the invaluable support of the Rolland & Associés oenology laboratory, founded by Michel Rolland. Their expertise provides a unique analytical and sensory perspective, enriching the daily work of our teams in the vineyard and cellar.
This requirement, at the crossroads of tradition and analysis, continues at Château La Tour Carnet through an avant-garde scientific commitment: the "La Tour Carnet 2050" project. Since 2013, 91 grape varieties have been planted and are now vinified separately in individual temperature-controlled vats. This program, led by the Pôle Scientifique de la Maison Bernard Magrez since 2022, tracks the aromatic evolution of each grape variety vintage after vintage to anticipate the effects of climate change and preserve the historic profile of Bordeaux wines.
"The climatic and environmental challenges we face are on an unprecedented scale and must be met. Reinventing our winegrowing profession, innovating wherever possible to ensure the long-term future of Bordeaux's great wines. This is the mission I have been giving my teams for over 10 years. This very special project reflects one of the cardinal values of my company: NEVER GIVE UP".
- Bernard Magrez
Chairman and CEO, Maison Bernard Magrez
Manual harvesting: precise, meticulous gestures
At Bernard Magrez Vineyards , each bunch of grapes is hand-picked with the utmost care. On each estate, hand-picking guarantees a natural selection in the vineyard, even before it reaches the winery.
A major innovation has now been added to this ancestral know-how: the latest generation of optical sorting. Introduced two years ago, it enables us to select each berry one by one, without crushing it, instantly eliminating those that don't meet our standards. This process ensures an unprecedented purity of material, and has become one of the House's technical signatures.
The cellar: where wine becomes an art
On arrival at the winery, the ballet continues. The grapes are immediately wrapped in dry ice, used at various stages to preserve freshness and protect aromas: just after harvest, in the vat after sorting, and then in the vats during vinification.
Fermentation is monitored with the utmost precision. Pump-overs are done by hand, temperatures monitored hour by hour. The work is demanding: in the atmosphere charged with CO₂, every gesture counts. This is where the wine comes to life, in the silence of the cellars and the concentration of the teams.
At Clos Haut-Peyraguey, fermentations are radically different: they are carried out directly in barrels, right from the first pressing. This rare and demanding ancestral method produces sweet wines of incomparable aromatic complexity, a true signature of the Sauternes region.
"The secret of Clos Haut-Peyraguey lies in the timing of the harvest and in picking the grapes when they are fully ripe. Indeed, sorting is a key moment for obtaining a quality wine, which is determined by a selection of the most delicious berries. The harvest is pressed overnight for gentle extraction, respecting this noble raw material. Fermentation takes place in new barrels (30%) and in barrels of 1 to 2 wines. Fermentation takes place at low temperature, and can last several weeks to achieve a perfect balance between sugar, alcohol and acidity. Once this balance has been reached, we stop fermentation and age the wine for 18 months in its original barrels.
- Fabien LASCURETTES
Technical Manager Clos Haut-Peyraguey
Une autre innovation marque ce millésime au Château Pape Clément : l’installation d’une solution de captation et revalorisation du CO₂ développée par la start-up W Platform (solution CO₂ Winery), incubée pendant plusieurs années parmi les premières promotions de l’incubateur Bernard Magrez. Cette technologie capte les émanations produites naturellement par les fermentations alcooliques pour les réutiliser, réduisant ainsi significativement l’empreinte carbone du chai. Cette collaboration illustre la volonté de la Maison Bernard Magrez de conjuguer tradition et transition environnementale durable.
Always striving for excellence
The 2025 Harvest was one of meticulous mastery, boldness and innovation, fully integrated into our historic expertise. From the record earliness of Pape Clément to the vigilance of La Tour Carnet, from the patience of Fombrauge to the nobility of Clos Haut-Peyraguey, every gesture served a common vision.
Innovation has established itself as a structuring force. Whether it's optical sorting, the La Tour Carnet 2050 program or the reclamation of CO₂ at Pape Clément, Maison Bernard Magrez is part of a pioneering approach to serving the great wines of tomorrow.
2025 is more than just a harvest. It's the meeting of a centuries-old heritage and rare technological precision, in the service of an unchanging ambition: to strive for excellence.